Wire Butterfly & Polished Stone

Here's my second January design team card for Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps. Yay! I think I am actually all caught up with my DT cards for the moment - crazy talk, I know. This card features the Wire Butterfly & Whimsical Birds half sheet. I used the background stamp, the butterfly and the swirl. I love, love this swirl! I want to use it on every project I make. :-)

Standard A2-sized card, except that I cut off the edge of the Always Artichoke and folded it over. Then I added the Naturals Ivory panel on the *inside* of the card and stamped the edge with my favorite swirl stamp. :-) This card features the Polished Stone technique (on the butterfly). This is a personal favorite of mine for the easy, diverse, and gorgeous backgrounds it makes. Every one comes out a little different and you can work with any color combo you want. I like to make an entire 8.5" x 11" sheet at a time so I have some left over for other projects in the future.

Polished Stone is ridiculously easy to do, but it can be a little messy. I have a box of disposable latex gloves right on my stamp table for making projects with reinker techniques such as this one. I highly recommend it - nothing makes me madder than being almost done with a gorgeous card only to transfer ink from my hands at the last minute and ruin everything. Walgreens - $4, a very wise investment.

To try this at home, you will need a sheet of glossy white card stock (or a portion of a sheet cut to the size you want for your project), classic (water-based) ink reinkers in the colors of your choice (I usually use three colors but you can do more or less depending on need), rubbing alcohol and cotton balls. A metallic reinker is optional (you can skip step 1 and start with step 2 if you don't have or want to use metallic ink). If you use metallic ink you will also need a spray acrylic sealer.

1. Put several drops of metallic reinker directly onto your glossy cardstock in a random pattern. Don't over ink!

2. Take a cotton ball and saturate it with rubbing alcohol. Place about 3 drops of classic ink directly onto the cotton ball, starting with the lightest color. I like to use one cotton ball per color for better control of ink color and placement. [This is where the gloves come in handy. You can also use a tweezer to hold the cotton ball but I like to have it right at my fingers.]

3. Dab your cotton ball repeatedly onto your glossy card stock. The motion you use should be a *tap, tap tap* not a rubbing or dragging. The alcohol will cause the classic ink and the metallic ink to run together and transfer to the paper. Be sure to use a random pattern with varying strength. Add more ink to the cotton ball if necessary for good color variation and depth. Add more alcohol to make the ink run more if it is getting too dark.

4. Repeat with other colors until you have the desired background. Your finished project should look mottled with the colors running and blending together.

5. If you used metallic ink, it will always dry chalky and will rub off the paper when you touch it. You will want to seal the paper with a spray acrylic sealant if you do step 1. If you didn't use metallic ink there is no need to seal the paper.

Complete Supply List: Wire Butterfly & Whimsical Birds 1/2 sheet of stamps from PPRS, SU Always Artichoke, Bravo Burgundy, Naturals Ivory and Glossy White cardstock, SU Mellow Moss, Always Artichoke and Bravo Burgundy classic reinkers, SU Mellow Moss, Always Artichoke and Bravo Burgundy classic ink pads, StazOn Sonte Gray ink pad, self-adhesive rhinestones from Joann Fabrics, paper piercer and template, dimensionals, olive grosgrain from RABOM.